The Sara Adventure

Seems like a lot of my friends are sick right now, so I guess there is something going around. I am getting over a sinus infection myself, and now my Alan is sick! Poor thing; he is in bed. We were supposed to do laundry today, so maybe he is just trying to get out of it! (I don't really believe that).

I am turning in the form today to switch my Masters program from community counseling to family counseling! I am excited to make the switch, and will hopefully have my intro to family counseling course this fall. A lot of people have been asking me about my summer classes and how they are going- boring. I'm glad I took evaluation techniques in the 6 week version, and career development in the 12 week variety. It's taking a lot out of me to care much about career development theory. I'm not really into all the tests and inventories and telling people what they'd be good at. I hate the idea of someone thinking I'm going to tell them what to do- if that's the case they've come to the wrong counselor. I should explain:

No one knows what is best for you but you. Trust me. You know yourself better than anyone else knows you, and you are the one that must live with your decisions. No counselor is going to give you advice that you couldn't come up with on your own... you just need a little help. My job will be to point out patterns in your life- good and bad- and demonstrate how your strengths have gotten you through every situation up to now. That is the short version. I like to imagine the counselor's role not as an advisor, but a strengthener, encourager, eye opener, and sometimes healer.

Heavens, this has been an interesting summer so far! We've had several groups of friends in and out of our home, and there is still more to come! Alyssa and Steven get here tomorrow, a few days after they leave some friends of ours move in to their apartment here in the city, a few days later my class ends, then we have our big Pray4Chicago event, then a week later we are going to Murfreesboro to see Alan's parents, sister, and nephew, two days after we get back Lori comes for a week, and the days she leaves my fall classes start. That's just to the end of August!

Paper writin' time.

What does it mean for my soul to have peace or rest? I feel like my soul is restless right now... tossing and turning in bed... pondering its existence. I have gone from somewhat apathetic about my current spiritual life to almost sick about it.

There is a battle going on inside me between the godly parts and the parts I hate. You know what I mean, you have them, too. They are all the things that keep you from being who you want to be; who God wants you to be. Those things right now are fighting for their existence inside of me, trying to bring me down. If I ignore them, they will do just that.

The Evil One is strategic. It knows that there are a lot of things I don't care much about, like making money, moving up in a career, or having a nice car. I am all about people, and The Evil One knows. When I'm at my weakest, evil strikes my relationships and my compassion for others. Worse than dislike is apathy. When I let evil take over I become cynical about the nature of God's people, of His creation. I forget that they are loved by Him, and I should try to see them the way He does. I instead, hope for the demise of the lady that can't park, and I wish punishment upon those who do not act, by my definition, decently in public. I let the people of this world tell me what is important. I wish for credit and recognition on earth. I desire to be looked up to, to have an influence on people. I decide to base my worth on these things.

So how do I decide to care about people again? How do I rid my soul of hatred and apathy? How do I find my value through God? My soul certainly has feelings, and they keep in check. I appreciate the unrest, and the groaning of my soul, which fights for what is right. I hope that I will never feel at peace if I am not trying to live the way God wants me to.

Since January I have been hard at work on my MA in counseling! I am proud of myself for seeking higher education, and I look forward to using my skills some day soon. However, I am not just trying to become "Sara Boyle, M.A," but instead I am trying to receive a set of skills that I can use to help people. With that said, I've decided to slow down with school for a few weeks and catch up on learning!

I was signed up for a six week class called "Individual Counseling Skills." It was the class where you counsel for practice, get video taped, transcribe your videos, and do a lot of reading and journaling. I could have done it, but I can't imagine that I would learn everything I'd like to in SIX WEEKS! Crazy... glad I'm not doing it. I am proud of myself for wanting to take my time with school, and saving not only my sanity, but Alan's as well : )

This will leave we with quite a bit of free time in the next six weeks, but I have a lot on my to do list. I'd like to take my time with my one class, do some reading, and maybe even research some about the field. After all, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do or where I want to work when I'm done. Wow, I sound like I don't know what I'm doing, but I do... I'm trying to follow where God leads.

It would be nice to get a part time job of some sort. I am really hoping to get a graduate assistant position at Northeastern, so please pray that it works out if it's supposed to. If that is not the plan God has up His sleeve, then I look forward to seeing what He has in store. I would love to build my resume (by working as a G.A I would help with research, and assist with many things in the counselor of education office), get a little money (like $275 a month), and get my classes paid for! Sounds perfect, but we'll see. Interviews start in a couple weeks.


We went camping in northern Illinois. Here I am by lake Michigan:

Please pray for my friends David and Stefanie. They desperately need to find a house. Their baby is due September 17th, and babies don't wait to be born because you don't have a bedroom for them.

Love!

While in the shower, listening to Nirvana, I made a connection in my mind that I have never made before. It had nothing to do with the shower or Nirvana, but just to be clear, you must know I was totally rocking out.

Anywho, I was actually looking at my tattoo and pondering what it means to bear that cross every day. In Jesus' day it was not a symbol of love, forgiveness, or grace, but DEATH. Yes, I wear on my leg everyday the symbol for death, because I have been sentenced to death. On my own I would end up far from God, with only evil flowing through me... but Jesus has saved me. He took His cross, wore it, and then it wore him. Now I wear mine everyday, and I need not forget that I have signed up to join Him. By accepting Jesus, His love, His grace, and His glory, I have joined Him on his quest to save the world. By carrying my cross next to Him, I have surrendered myself, my life, completely.

Amen.

PS- I love Nirvana. Don't be shocked.

Don't make fun now, but I got hot today, and it's 78 degrees. Cut me some slack though, I'm not used to it! I went for my run and I got overheated. It was slightly overcast, but the sun was still hot and I was wearing all black. Whoo! I only made it about 2.5 miles before I was too hot! For those who have been keeping up with my progress, I ran 10 miles last week, but ran today for the first time this week.

The Lalli's were in town Sun-Wed morning this week , and we did everything there is to do touristy it seems! We went to the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Navy Pier, an architecture cruise, the Museum of Science and Industry, and then they went to the Sears Tower without me (because I had class). Needless to say I was pooped! I needed a vacation from my vacation. Maybe I'll post some pictures on here later.

Anyway, as always, I'm trying to stay ahead on class work. I'm doing fine, but would like to get ahead before the next group of friends come in town. Jacob and Janet Henry will be here at the end of this month, which is actually very soon! They will be here the last week of my 6 week class online, so I'd like to get all of my work done for it before hand.

My 5 year high school reunion is this Saturday, but I won't be there. Only a few of my good friends are going, so I won't miss out on much. One of my friends said he would take pictures for me, so that's good. Five years... guess I'm startin to get old! ha ha.

Yesterday a bunch of us church planting type folks got together and just day dreamed about our "quest." It was interesting and a lot of great things were said:

"Everybody can pray for the city" -even though we are all in different communities and meeting at different locations.

In regards to huge congregations not always being optimal (that's saying it lightly)- "I just don't know about 5000 people listening to one guy preach... unless it's Jesus."

"My quest is Love."

Those are just the few I wrote down, but everyone participated in this "think tank" as Mark called it, and it was very encouraging.

I noticed that it's been a while since I've posted. The main reason for this is because our internet has been... less than optimal. We switched to AT&T because Comcast was unreliable, but then AT&T sent us a bad modem. SO we have been without reliable internet for a few weeks. That's pretty much the only bad news though!

I got all A's my first semester, went to see my in-laws for a few days, celebrated my third anniversary with the love of my life, went to my first Sox game, saw Magan and Justin get married (and was in my first wedding), spent a few days with my parents, had dinner with friends and family multiple times, met with church elders and ministers about our work, finished the homework for the first two weeks of my summer classes, and bought a new couch!! That was just three weeks!!!

I suddenly feel very accomplished after writing all that down. ha ha. God keeps us sane, that is for sure. I haven't had much time to run, but I'm ready to rock and roll again. I took a lot of pictures this month, but I'm not going to put them on here... HERE is the link to the album on Facebook.

I'll try not to wait so long to write!